Parallel Days
by Kairaita
Summary: Erza, Jellal - For both of them, the line between reality and dreams is blurring dangerously. That life was just wishful thinking, after all. Canon AU.
1. Prologue

_~Parallel Days~_

_It starts with a dream._

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Once upon a time, in a certain world, there was a boy and a girl in a tower.

In that world, the boy and girl were just two slaves among countless others. And yet, they had friends who shared their wishes and dreams of a better life.

In that world, the boy gave the girl a name. The boy gave the girl a promise.

In that world, the boy and the girl and their friends tried to escape the tower, hoping for freedom. The girl was captured and taken away. The boy tried to rescue the girl, who had been tortured and lost her eye, and told her they had to fight. But the boy was taken away in the girl's place. So the girl returned to her friends, remembered what the boy had said, and stood up.

In that world, they fought. They fought for the sake of their freedom, as well as to save the boy. And the girl began to believe in herself, in the existence of magic, and that she could coexist with everything in nature. She used her magic, believing she could save the boy with her power. And during all this, a voice whispered to the boy, trying to fill him with hate and lies and tales of a false world called 'heaven'.

In that world, the boy could not help but listen, and changed, and when the girl found the boy, he was not the boy she had known anymore.

In that world, the girl reached her hand out to the boy she had once known.

In that world, he did not take it.

Instead, the boy banished her alone from the tower to what he called her "fleeting freedom", hanging the lives of his once-friends over her head as payment, and the girl was heartbroken at the loss of the boy and those friends. But eventually, the girl joined a guild where they asked her if fairies had tails, and slowly, _slowly, _her heart began to heal. Her new family, her new friends, they all supported her and loved her like no one except the boy and her old friends had before. But she shut her heart in armor, unwilling to let anyone hurt her ever again like the boy once had.

In that world, eight years passed. Through a series of unfortunate events, the girl met the boy again at the top of the same tower, and for the girl, her heart was breaking all over again. The boy and the girl fought, the boy took the life of one of the girl's old friends, the girl was saved by one of her new friends, and the boy was eventually defeated.

In that world, the boy finally remembered who he used to be, what the girl meant to him, and woke up. The girl tried to sacrifice herself for her new friends only to be stopped by the boy, who took her place once and again. And the girl learned not to die for her friends, but to live for them.

In that world, the girl sadly accepted the loss of the boy, simply grateful that he had returned to being the boy she had once known.

But the boy was not dead.

In that world, the girl met the boy again at yet another battlefield, and the boy did not remember the girl. The boy did not remember his promise. Despite the forgotten memories, they fought together this time, side by side, for something else. And when that battle was over, the boy had to be taken away to pay for his crimes at the tower, and the girl had to lose the boy all over again. But by then, the boy had remembered the girl's name and the promise he had given her.

And the girl cried at a scarlet sky.

The world did not stop despite her grief, and the girl moved on by wistfully keeping the memory of the boy close to her heart. She continued on with her life, finding comfort in her family until one day, she and her new-old friends were put to sleep for seven years.

When she woke up, the boy was waiting for her.

In that world, there finally came a time where the boy was not a boy and the girl was not a girl, but a young man and a young woman, and they were able to look back at that night, hoping they could smile for real.

They had found their answer.

.

.

.

* * *

That is not the story of what happened in _this_ world.

In _this_ world, they did not find their answer, because they always had it.

In _this_ world, the boy was not taken away to pay for his crimes at the tower, because there were no crimes to pay for.

In _this_ world, the boy remembered the girl, because he had never forgotten her.

In _this_ world, the girl did not try to sacrifice herself for her new friends, because she had not joined a guild where they asked her if fairies had tails. She did not know them, and there was nothing to sacrifice.

* * *

In _this_ world, there was still a boy and a girl in a tower. They were still only two slaves among countless others, and they still had friends despite that.

In _this _world, the boy still gave the girl a name and a promise.

They still tried to escape, the girl was still captured and tortured and still lost an eye, the boy still tried to rescue her and still told her they had to fight. The boy was still taken away, the girl still returned to her friends and remembered what the boy had said, and still stood up and fought.

In _this_ world, a voice still whispered to the boy, trying to fill him with hate and lies and tales of a false world called 'heaven'.

In _this _world, the boy was just a little wiser, a little stronger, a little more cynical, and told the voice to go fuck off.

In _this_ world, the girl still believed in herself, in the existence of magic, and that she could coexist with everything in nature. She still used her magic, still believed she could save the boy with her power, and she still found him.

In _this_ world, the girl reached her hand out to the boy she still knew.

In _this_ world, he took it.

.

.

.

* * *

**A/N:** My first multi-chapter project. The writing style for the prologue is a bit different from what I usually do and probably kind of weird, but the actual story will be in a more conventional style. Also the summary, "Canon AU", is exactly that. And no, it doesn't mean Edolas. If that's still confusing, it'll be clearer in later chapters. I guess you can call it somewhat of a "fix-fic".

I hope I've sparked people's interest. I'm a pretty slow writer and additionally I'm beta-reading someone else's story at the moment, so updates will be slow too, although I'll try to at least get the next chapter up within a week. Thanks for reading so far.


	2. Hesitation Abandoned

**Chapter One – Hesitation Abandoned**

* * *

"_I-if they find us… I know how they treat the kids who get found."_

"_It's okay, don't be afraid."_

"…_J-Jellal?"_

"_We almost have our freedom. Our future, and our dreams. Let's go, Erza."_

"_Yeah."_

* * *

"_It was me! I planned it all! _It wasn't Erza!_"_

"_D-don't worry about me… I'll be fine. It's… It's just like you said, Jellal. I-I'm not… scared at all…"_

"_ERZA!"_

* * *

"_Erza, thank goodness! Everything's fine now, I came to save you!"_

"_H-how…?"_

"_There's no going back now. We have to fight."_

* * *

"_It's a revolt!"_

"_We won't get freedom by obeying them or running away. We have to fight! Stand up, for freedom!"_

* * *

It hurt.

Everywhere.

Jellal sucked in another ragged breath as the whip lashed out, striking his skin over and over and over and over and it just _wouldn't stop._ He tried counting between hits at first: one, across his face. Two, down his arm. Three, cutting into his side. Four, slicing through the thin and shredded fabric of his worker shirt, if it could even be called that, onto his chest. However, his concentration on the next strike was broken as the dark leather tip of the whip dug into an earlier gash on his cheek. It stung sharply and he could feel fresh blood running down his chin, dripping onto the filthy floor below.

It hurt.

But he wouldn't let them have the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

He had no way of knowing how much time had passed while strung up on a rope like this due to the lack of a timepiece, although he had a vague calculation of how long it took for the slave driver to raise his hand to the moment the whip made contact - about a second and a half. The pain eventually wore away to a dull sort of pounding, and soon enough he barely even felt it anymore. More than anything, the repetitive whistling of the whip was giving him a headache.

Hours later, it seemed— not that he could tell, the fat slave driver wielding the whip paused for breath, rubbing his sore arm. "This guy doesn't even utter a sound," he complained. "No fun at all."

The thinner man next to him took another drag of his cigarette, exhaling slowly. A round cloud of smoke dissipated into the air, leaving a disgusting smell. "Remember that girl a few days ago? Wasn't she scared and crying constantly?"

"Yeah, that!" the fat man guffawed, slapping his leg in amusement. "That was a fine piece of work!" The sound of his companion's laughter reverberated throughout the small chamber, echoing off the stone walls and amplifying it to sound like a pack of hyenas.

He couldn't help it. Jellal made a soft noise of contempt and spat out a glob of blood. He had bitten the inside of his cheek earlier. How dare they talk about her like that? She was worth ten, a hundred, a _million_ of either of them.

It would be a lie, he knew, to call her as brave as he was. Because no matter how you looked at it, she really wasn't. But Jellal also knew that she had a certain kind of courage, all her own, and it was something he could never even hope to compare to. He'd seen it in her eyes, _eye_, he reminds himself now, at that last moment, when he'd picked her up and cradled her close and told her they had to fight, just before the guard landed a blow on his head and she was taken away, again. She had raised her head weakly, and a spark had been burning in her dark eyes— eye.

He was counting on it.

They noticed his movement. Jerking Jellal's head up, the fat slave driver squashed his cheeks together and leaned in close. "Oi, little brat. Do you know what a sacred task it is to complete the R-System? On the dawn of the day the tower is complete, we will all be taken into heaven."

Jellal said nothing.

"The R-System can revive our god," the man continued fanatically, his nasal voice trembling in anticipation. "It can revive the last dark magician!"

"Shut up, pig," Jellal retorted flatly. Their insane ravings meant nothing to him. Absolutely nothing. They were all stupid, believing in a 'god' like that.

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"What did you say!" the slave driver roared predictably, lashing the whip and bringing it down in a heavy blow that smacked Jellal's head sideways. "You think that's something you can say to a high priest like me?" Oh, so he fancied himself a priest, Jellal thought scornfully. How pathetic.

The whip kept whistling through the air, and his eyesight began to grow blurry.

"Don't mind what the little brat says," the other slave driver called, heading to the cell door. "Let's go. We still gotta put those uppity slaves down this afternoon."

The fat one panted heavily, still steaming with anger. "Until you learn to respect our god," he yelled, pointing his sausage-like finger at Jellal, "you won't set a foot outside of this place!"

With that, the door slammed shut with a heavy _clang._

They were gone. Jellal couldn't help but exhale in relief. He was still trapped in the room though, and streaks of blood were dripping down his arm from where the rope had rubbed his wrists raw. Not to mention that he was feeling lightheaded, and beginning to tremble. Shock, he remembered Grandpa Rob telling him once, after seeing another slave who had been sent to the punishment room come back. The slave had to be literally tossed back into the cell, where he simply curled up and shivered like he was on ice. He was dead hours later, even though Grandpa Rob had tried to stop it by giving the other slave his own precious water and sneaking in a torch to keep him warm.

This was what the guards did to them, for their so-called 'god'.

"God, huh?" Jellal said out loud, forcing his voice not to waver. There was no one around to hear him anyway. "There's no such thing. I don't need a god that can't save a kid like me, even if he's real."

The bitterness was welling up like a fountain inside him now. Why did it have to be them? Why did it have to be _him?_ There was no such thing as a god, or a heaven, and all the guards and slave drivers and everyone else in the damn tower who thought capturing innocent people to force them into working like dogs was okay were _stupid_. And if a god existed, it must be one that didn't care enough to do anything. A useless, good-for-nothing god.

"I hate…"

_Hate._

"I hate them all."

The slave drivers. "Those guys,"

The useless, fake, nonexistent god they worshipped. "Their god,"

The world, for not seeing the despair in this place and leaving him, _her_, and everyone else that had ever lived, worked, and died here to rot. "I hate this entire world," Jellal spat, shaking violently out of rage now, rather than shock.

_Hate strengthens me._

He jerked his head upward.

A voice.

Where? There was no one besides him in the cell.

_What an amusing lot they are. I've been here this whole time..._

"W-Who's there?" Jellal shouted. Inky purple-black mist began to fill the room. Spilling through the bars on the door, swirling around the wooden beams, crawling down the rope that bound him.

…_And yet, they think to revive me? Of giving me flesh?_

"Where are you?" His voice cracked slightly, and Jellal squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't defend against an enemy he couldn't see, much less when he was tied up.

_All the faith in the world cannot help them,_ the voice whispered into his ear. _Without a powerful hatred, you cannot feel my presence. You're very lucky, Jellal… _He shuddered at the sound of his name melting out of the unknown voice in a sibilant hiss. _You have met the god worshipped by so many… _

His eyes snapped wide open.

God?

"Come out."

No such thing.

_My name… is Zeref._ A strange, lilting giggle.

There were no gods.

_Hatred is my very existence…!_

Nonexistence, more like.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, wrapping around his body until it obscured his vision, and all he could see was purple stretching out endlessly like there could never be light. It swirled in a sickeningly graceful way, enveloping his every sense, beckoning him into an abyss.

Jellal felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Liar."

If, _if_ this was a god, why hadn't it come forward before? He'd always, _always_ hated the guards, the slave drivers, everything about the tower. He'd hated them from the moment they had blown his father up, from the moment they'd snapped his mother's neck, from the moment they had dragged him blood-splattered, kicking, and screaming from his home as it lit up in flames. It made no difference how much he'd hated them before and how much he hated them now, and he wasn't about to take the word of a disembodied voice spouting a few sweet lines. He hated this thing too.

The only thing he could trust here were his fellow slaves, and even then, only a _few_ of them. The little group of people he had formed something resembling friendship with was all that mattered. And especially the one he had given a name and a promise to, because she was his and he was hers. That girl, and the promise in _her_ eyes to return for him.

He didn't need any god.

All he needed was Erza.

…_What?_ Jellal could practically hear the voice's incredulity. It was very satisfying. _Do you understand whom you speak to, boy?_

"Sure I do," he said, unable to stop the smug words from spilling out. "You're just some poser who thinks that I'll jump when you ask how high. But I don't believe _anything_ you say."

There was suddenly no air. Jellal gasped for breath, struggling, but his hands were still bound. The fog was filling his lungs, streaming into his nose and ears and mouth, choking him, as if there was something squeezing his neck tightly.

_You're a fool then, brat, _the voice hissed. Anger radiated the dark cocoon of the mist. But in the next moment, the anger was replaced with a chilling sort of calm, and the grip around his throat loosened. Jellal gagged, sucking in the precious oxygen as fast as he could, his chest heaving from the exertion.

_I can give you power, you know,_ the voice cooed, but Jellal could hear it dripping with false sincerity. _Power beyond your greatest imagination. _

_There is no such thing as freedom, not the kind you long for. Freedom does not exist in this world. If you accept, you will find _true_ freedom in my domain. What do you say? _

He wouldn't deny that the temptation was there. Assuming the voice was indeed telling the truth. He wouldn't have to wait. He could get out of here by himself. He wouldn't have to run anymore, because no one would dare oppose the power at his fingertips. He wouldn't need to rely on an uncertain _feeling _to have the hope of leaving this place.

But that _feeling_ burned brighter than any lure of power ever could. Jellal mustered a smirk to the mysterious voice, his mind reaching back among both old and fresh memories of the guards shouting abuse for something to say – and oh, there were _plenty_ of choices, and came up with the most eloquent response he could think of.

"Fuck you."

Once again all air was vacuumed out, but this time the fog was squeezing twice as hard as before. He felt his eyes roll up in his head, his vision going gray at the edges. He needed air…

_How dare you?_ Jellal could still hear the voice distinctly, indignant with anger, although it seemed to be growing louder and softer at random intervals. Strange. And then, a long, high-pitched laugh. Most likely his disorientation at the loss of oxygen, but Jellal thought the sound couldn't come from anyone but a girl not much older than him.

_It doesn't matter, _the voice continued, fading in and out like bad static. _Whether I have your consent or not, you _will_ receive my power, Jellal. I want you to be mine. _The fog surged forward, pressing in on him in every direction, skimming across every inch of his skin.

He was going to die.

Where was she…?

.

.

.

A crash.

He thought he heard a vehement hiss of frustration, but it didn't matter much when in the next moment, the fog had vanished completely. His world widened slightly, from the purple cocoon of mist back to the dimly illuminated little cell.

He could distantly hear the slave drivers' voices, pleading to someone, but there was another crash, even fainter than the last. Everything was going dark.

Bare feet slapping against the ground, the sharp, metallic sound of a steel sword dragging across stone, a high, sweet voice calling his name frantically…

A bright flash of scarlet.

* * *

"Simon. How's Simon?"

"He didn't wake up yet, but I think he's okay. We put a lot of bandages on his eye and head and everything, and he's not bleeding as fast anymore."

"Good," Erza sighed, wanting very much to slump to the ground in relief. "That's good."

"You should see him, Erzy!" Milliana piped up, tugging at Wally's hand, who blushed. "Simon's all wrapped up like a mummy and stuff."

Despite herself, Erza laughed. "I'll see him later. But I gotta go rescue Jellal now."

At once Wally, Milliana, and Sho's faces were stricken with guilt, horrified that they had almost forgotten about their still imprisoned friend. "Sis, you'll be back, right?" Sho asked worriedly. He worried entirely too much, Erza thought, but of course he'd never had reason to do otherwise.

"I will. I promise." She turned her back to the multitude of boats that were gently rocking on the waves temptingly. It would be so easy to just… go. To not return to the gaping maw of the tower, to not go back into the smoke and dust and smell of death. "But I have another one to keep first."

Jellal had given her everything. A name and a promise were the least of it, even if they were the most important.

* * *

"W-wait! We were only following orders!"

"Yeah, t-that's right! We had no choice! How 'bout we make peace, huh?"

She leveled a clear glare at them, brown eyes – _eye _– narrowing coldly in contempt. They were nothing but cowards, and a waste of time to deal with. "Out of my way."

It was laughably easy to slash through the slave drivers. Erza hadn't even needed to use her newly found magic. She made sure her attacks were less than fatal though, content to just leave them bleeding on the floor. Rushing past the slave drivers before they had time to call for help, Erza continued down the narrow tunnel and found herself staring at a little door of a little cell in the far end. The cell was the same one they had kept her in, Erza realized, and she shook a little, reaching her free hand up to touch the edge of the smudged patch on her right eye.

She couldn't think about that. All that mattered right now was rescuing Jellal and getting out of this godforsaken place.

Still, with every step approaching the cell, her anxiety grew. Jumbled thoughts of what they could have possibly done to him raced through her mind. Jellal was, and always would be so much stronger than she was, and had always seemed like a steadfast pillar of support in the tower, the shining example of justice. They had picked her to blame for the botched escape because she was weak, and they had done what they had to her for the same reason. Because she was weak, and because they could. But Jellal was different. It was impossible to imagine him breaking for any reason. And yet…

She was afraid that the person she found in the cell wouldn't be Jellal anymore.

All too soon Erza was standing in front of the barred door, craning her neck to see through it. But it was too dark and there was nothing but an inky black gap threatening to swallow her whole beyond the door. She gave the bars an experimental push, and then stabbed her sword into the floor so she could use both hands, throwing the entirety of her slight weight against the obstacle. The door painstakingly swung open with a whining _creak_. Lifting the sword once again, Erza took a hesitant step forward.

And then another.

And another.

And another.

A dim patch of blue in the darkness.

Her body moved by itself, dreamlike, until she was sprinting to the unmoving figure dangling from a rope on tall wooden beams and shouting something was a hoarse, frantic voice that Erza vaguely realized as her own.

"Jellal! _JELLAL!_"

She felt a strained smile break across her face, raising her sword to cut the bindings, and she just couldn't do it fast enough. The words were spilling out in an endless stream now, tumbling over each other in a chaotic blur and she could barely catch her breath. "It's okay, it's all over! We're safe! We fought, just like you said!" Erza caught Jellal's limp form, lowering him gently to the ground and sinking to her knees. "Simon's really hurt, and Grandpa Rob protected me… And a lot of other people were seriously hurt too…" she said despondently, pulling away the last of the ropes from his wrists with trembling fingers and wincing as the pale white outlines of where the rope had been quickly flooded crimson from Jellal's blood circulating his veins again.

"But we won! We're all free!" Erza continued, unable to stop the small flower of joy from blooming inside her chest, and pushed Jellal upright. His head hung down limply. "Let's go! Wally and the others swiped their boats. We can leave this island. And we'll never, ever have to come back."

Silence.

Erza's heart stopped. "J-Jellal?"

She pressed two fingers to Jellal's wrist, at his pulse point. Weak, but pounding steadily. She tipped his chin up, saw his chest rise and fall. He was still breathing. So why? "Jellal? Jellal! Hey!" She patted the side of his face, shaking him slightly. No! She hadn't come all this way just to—

Jellal's eyelids flickered, and he groaned quietly.

She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Blearily opening his eyes, Jellal raised his head with what seemed like a tremendous effort, dark irises darting everywhere spastically until they settled on her face. Or more accurately it seemed, to Erza, her hair.

"Jellal? Did you hear me?" She reached her hand out, trying to hold him steady. "We can get out of here. Let's go."

Jellal stared at her unseeingly for a long moment. An eternity later, his lips curved up in a tiny, wavering smile. "You did it," he whispered hoarsely. His hand slid into her outstretched one, fingers tangling together, and Jellal leaned forward to press his forehead against hers. "Alright."

The smile was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and Erza thought she could kiss him.

So on a ridiculous impulse, she did. Right under his eye on that weird tattoo of his.

* * *

Sho waited anxiously, arms crossed under his chin and resting on the ship's rails while his bare feet tapped out a nonsense rhythm on the wooden deck. "Sis sure is taking a long time," he said to himself, trying to drown out the noise of the moo-vee lacrima that Wally had found. He didn't want to tell the other boy because Wally would laugh at him, but the sharp _bang!s_ from the moving pictures scared him. It reminded him entirely too much of the fiery explosions when they had been making their escape from the magic soldiers.

He kept his eyes fixed rigidly on where he thought the entrance to the tower was, although it was hard to tell since a lot of smoke was still billowing everywhere, even outside because the wind was really strong. Behind him, Milliana's cheers and Wally's enthusiastic yells continued on as if they had no cares at all. Sho felt a small prickle of irritation at their nonchalance, but he knew that they were just trying to distract themselves.

Simon was still out cold. Sho wondered if Simon was going to die, like Grandpa Rob, because Simon had lost a lot of blood. But he didn't want Simon to die. He missed Grandpa Rob already. Grandpa Rob always knew what to do, and would probably tell him to not lose faith in Sis, and to always keep believing in her because that was what a real family did. Sis and the others were the closest thing to a real family he had left anyway, so it was probably okay to do that.

There was a noise like a rock being kicked across the ground. Sho squinted, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to get specks of dust out, and sprang up excitedly. "Sis! Sis!"

A lumpy, oddly-shaped figure was stumbling out of the smoke, but Sho had realized that it was Erza and Jellal, the older boy's arm slung around the girl's thin shoulders. Erza was practically half carrying Jellal, murmuring something into his ear that Sho couldn't hear because they were too far away. He ran to the duo, not caring about the sharp rocks on his feet, and quickly grabbed Jellal's other arm. Erza's eye lit up. "Sho!" She gave him an awkward pat on his head with her free arm, and adjusted her grip on Jellal.

Wally and Milliana were peeking over the boat railing, wide-eyed with wonder. A lot of people on their boat and other boats were looking in their direction too, no doubt intrigued by all the commotion.

But Sho didn't care about any of that. Sis and Jellal were here and that was all that mattered. "You're back, Sis! You kept your promise and you got Jellal too!" He tugged at Jellal's arm, pulling both him and Erza towards their ship. There was a lot of red blood on the other boy. "Is Jellal okay? Is he gonna die?" Sho asked worriedly, chewing his lower lip.

Erza gave a tired sigh and shook her head. "No, he's not! Jellal's okay, he's just tired and hurt like Simon is," she explained.

Sho mulled the response over in his mind, glanced over at Jellal again, and found her answer acceptable. "Okay."

Sis had said so. It must be fine then.

* * *

There were enough people among the former slaves who knew how boats worked, and they divided evenly to make sure all the ships could be commandeered safely.

At least they didn't expect her to try and lead them all again just because she had been the first one to take up a weapon against the guards and attack, shouting about their freedom. That was true, but a small, guilty part in the back of Erza's mind knew the only thing she had wanted to do at that moment was save Jellal. She was relieved to let a grown-up take charge of things. Besides, she wasn't a leader. Jellal was, if no one else.

On the ship deck, Erza stared up at the sky, marveling at the vibrant shade of blue, and thought that she would never get tired of looking at it. They had never been allowed outside, and the snatched glimpses from when she passed by the barred windows while hauling huge stones in rusty wheelbarrows didn't leave much of an impression.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

A sudden voice behind her and Erza whirled around, unable to stop an involuntary gasp slipping from her lips. The guard was there, coming to punish her and she had to run, run, or would it be better to just take the punishment here and now-

"Whoa, hey! Calm down!"

But no, it wasn't a tower guard at all, just a bearded man with a stained white shirt and kind gray eyes that were looking worriedly at her. And, oh, she recognized him as one of the people who knew how to sail the boats. The boat that she, Jellal, Sho, Milliana, Simon, and Wally were on at the moment, to be precise. Erza inhaled sharply, trying to shrink in on herself and die of embarrassment right then. "I-I'm sorry, I was just surprised…"

"Nah, my fault for sneakin' up on you like that." The bearded man scratched the back of his head sheepishly and let out a small laugh. "Alright there, missy?"

Erza took another deep breath and straightened up. "I… Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry," she said again. She remembered the man's remark before her… _moment_, and asked timidly, "Were you talking about the sky?"

"Sure was! Haven't seen it in ages. You wouldn't think the sky could be this bright over that damned tower." He glanced upward, as if to reassure himself that the sky was still there. "M'name's Ross, by the way. You don't need to call me 'Captain' on this boat though!" Ross joked, making a motion like tipping a hat on his head.

"I-I'm Erza. Scarlet," she added after a pause, fingering a strand of hair that was in her face. "Erza Scarlet. And… I don't know what a 'cap-tan' is," Erza said softly, wringing her hands behind her back. She was so ignorant of all the things outside the tower…

Ross patted her shoulder in a consoling manner. Erza tried not to flinch. "No shame. A captain's just the guy in charge of a boat," he explained. "How old are you anyway, missy?"

"I'm-" Erza started, and thought hard. She used to have a birthday. Erza remembered that clearly enough, although the exact details were blurry. There would be snow after her birthday… And she remembered Grandpa Rob scratching a line after two other groups of five lines on the cell walls, explaining that each line was another year she was alive and the number that came after _one, two, three, four, five; six, seven, eight, nine, ten. And this one, Erza-chan, this number comes after ten. It's called-_

"E-le-ven," she ventured, uncertain, rolling the syllables together haltingly. "Eleven," Erza repeated more strongly, with conviction. "I think I'm eleven."

"Eleven, huh?" Something changed on Ross's face, and Erza thought he looked sad. "Eleven. Damn. You, and all those other kids… Dammit. None of you deserved any of this. Well, that's all in the past! Just like a bad dream," he said cheerfully, changing tack at the speed of light. "A really long bad dream, but it's finally over now. And we have you to thank for it, missy. Erza, was it?"

"Yes…"

"Thank you, miss Erza." Ross smiled earnestly down at her, giving her head a pat. She felt tears almost gather at the corner of her eyes. Grandpa Rob had always done that. "Thank you, for making us fight."

Warmth pooled somewhere in her middle, spreading outward to the very tips of Erza's fingers and toes. She'd been able to do something for this man. For all these people. For all her fellow slaves, and her friends. This was gratitude for _her_ alone, Erza realized, and a rush of fierce pride flowed through her body. "Where will you go now?" she asked, curious.

"Home. I've got a wife and kid waiting. Got them out of the house before those bastards caught me." Erza didn't really remember anything about her own family and had no experiences to compare to, but the blissful look of reminiscence on the older man's face was wonderful. "Hope they're still around. But that'll be the last stop. I'll drop everyone anywhere they want to go. You got a place in mind?"

It was something she would definitely have to discuss with the others, but then a thought struck her. Would they even want to stay together? The only thing that had bound them together was their situation in the tower, and Erza wondered despairingly if it meant that any of them wanted to go their separate ways. "I don't know yet," she admitted. A memory suddenly flitted through her head.

"_There are places called cities, where large numbers of people gather to live. I used to live in one called Magnolia, and it was quite a beautiful city. You see, there was a mage guild I was a part of, and they asked you if fairies had tails…"_

"No rush," Ross was saying, spreading his arms out at the vast, sparkling ocean before them. "There's all the time in the world."

* * *

"Of course we want to all stay together!" Wally shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Shh, shh!" Erza hissed, frantically gesturing for him to quiet down. "Jellal and Simon are still sleeping!" Wally had the good grace to look embarrassed as he sat down again.

They were gathered in one of the small rooms below deck. Jellal and Simon had been taken there first to rest, and Erza had gone around searching for Sho, Milliana, and Wally.

"We wanna be together forever, Erzy," Milliana chirped, taking her hand. "I don't care where we go, as long as it's all of us." Beside her, Sho nodded in agreement, and Erza was alarmed to see that he appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"Do you not want us around, Sis?" he asked pitifully, sniffling, and Erza couldn't help but reach over to hug the younger boy.

"No, of course I do," Erza said, and she tried to blink back tears again. "But I thought that since we were free, you wouldn't want to be with me anymore and you wanted to go to places by yourselves."

"We're all free together, Erza," Wally butted in, looking triumphant. "So there." His expression fell and for a moment, he looked utterly miserable. "I dunno where my brother went, so you guys're all I got left."

A twisting stab of guilt. Erza hadn't even considered the possibility that the others were just as lost as she felt. She stood up, looking over her three conscious friends fondly. "I'm sorry for asking that sort of question," she said softly. "But I see now. We'll all stick together, right?"

"Yeah!" Wally, Milliana, and Sho cheered in unison before clapping their hands to their mouths, remembering their still unconscious friends. On some unspoken signal, they filed out of the room quietly on tiptoe. Erza lagged behind them, glancing back at the presumably sleeping forms of the other two boys, and froze.

Jellal was sitting up, eyes alert and a faint smile on his face. "Hey."

"J-Jellal!" She almost managed to not run towards him, only stumbling slightly, and sunk down to her knees at his side. "I'm sorry, did they wake you up? You should go back to sleep, you're still really hurt-"

"I feel fine," Jellal cut her off, bracing his hands against the floor like he wanted to get up. Erza didn't fail to notice the wince that he attempted to hide. Poorly. He managed to stand by using the wall to push himself up and ended up leaning heavily against it, breathing shallowly. "So," Jellal panted, obviously trying to keep some composure. "We're all in this together, huh?"

He staggered suddenly, tilting to one side, and Erza caught his arm. "I told you," she said matter-of-factly, slinging Jellal's arm around her shoulder like she had done earlier. "And… you heard that?"

Jellal nodded silently.

The two of them stayed like that, leaning against each other, until Jellal looked to Erza. "I want to go see outside. Can… you help me up there?" He seemed to struggle with the words, coloring slightly as if embarrassed to need her assistance.

Erza giggled, and obliged.

They didn't notice the last person left in the room stir slightly.

* * *

The sky and the ocean were everything he'd dreamed of, and more.

Jellal leaned over the ship's railing, looking down at the lapping waves with wide eyes. Real water, not the supposedly 'sanitary' sludge that was given out with their rations. He glanced up to the sky, mouth open in amazement at the different colors blended seamlessly together. Purple, orange, yellow, and… scarlet. Erza had told him that earlier the sky had been the most beautiful blue she had ever seen, but at the moment, these streaks of color seemed far more mesmerizing than a solid, unbroken sky.

He hadn't _exactly_ lied to Erza when he'd said he was fine. He was walking and talking and breathing, so from a certain point of view, Jellal most certainly _was_ fine. The countless whiplashes still ached and Jellal thought there might be blood dripping down his leg again, but he wouldn't trade this first real moment outside for anything in the world, "on the verge of death" (as Erza called it; she was surprisingly dramatic sometimes) or not.

On his left side, Erza was quiet. Well, she was generally quiet anyway, but she seemed almost contemplative now, staring at some point far off in the distance. Now and then her eye flicked to his face, darting away whenever he caught her. "What's wrong?" Jellal finally asked, unable to bear her constant glances any longer. It was distracting.

"Nothing," she replied, a little too quickly, and Jellal raised an eyebrow. "It's just… Now."

"Now?" Jellal echoed, confused at Erza's uncharacteristic vagueness.

She nodded, cupping her cheek in her palm. "Where do we go then?"

"Anywhere we want to. We're free," he answered immediately, tilting his head. "Wasn't that the point of all this?"

"Yes, of course." Erza was fiddling with her fingers. It was _highly_ distracting. "Do you remember that Grandpa Rob told us about cities and guilds once?" she asked suddenly, turning her entire head around to face him. He felt the familiar twisting stab of guilt as he saw the white patch covering her right eye again, a reminder of his failure to get there in time. Erza didn't seem to notice his distress, and continued, "What do you think about going to one? The Magnolia city that Grandpa Rob talked about. About joining the, um, Fairy Tail guild?"

"What? No!"

She recoiled as if he had shouted, and Jellal immediately felt like the scum of the earth. "S-sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay." Erza was looking cautiously at him now, and moved back closer. "Why not?"

Jellal shook his head emphatically, blue hair falling into his eyes. "I just… don't wanna go anywhere right now. To feel like that we _belong_ to somewhere right now. It's too much like being in the tower."

"But Grandpa Rob was from Fairy Tail," Erza protested softly. "It's different, isn't it?"

"I know, but…" He struggled for words to explain how he felt, how joining a guild seemed like he was giving up his freedom _again,_ even though it apparently really wasn't, how he wasn't ready to deal with masses of people in cities yet. "Just for now," Jellal said. "I don't want to have to be with other people until we're ready." Because he certainly didn't feel ready.

"You mean, just you, me," Jellal nodded. "…and Sho and the others?"

He paused, looking into her earnest eyes for a long moment, a response dancing hesitantly on the tip of his tongue.

Finally, he nodded. "Yeah. Just you, me, and the others."

Of course it would be with Sho and Wally and Simon and Milliana. Why had he even thought otherwise, that it would just be him and Erza? He had grown up alongside them too, and knew them all just as well. …Probably.

Erza smiled then, a tiny little thing that somehow lit up her entire face. He blinked. It was amazing. "Okay," she said, every word ringing with sincerity. "I trust you, Jellal."

On a ridiculous impulse, he took her hand. She looked at him in surprise, and Jellal backpedaled for a believable excuse. "I didn't want you to fall over the rail, it's… really… low," he muttered lamely, internally smashing his head against a wall when Erza looked at the wooden beams in confusion; the railing was at least as tall as her chin. "I-I mean- I wasn't-" He was just digging himself deeper now. Jellal blamed it on the blood loss.

His increasingly incoherent tirade stopped abruptly as he felt Erza tighten her grip in his hand. Jellal turned to her, but Erza was not looking at him. Instead, she was staring out over the waters again, that tiny smile still on her face, and Jellal felt all his exhaustion suddenly leech away.

This, right now, was enough.

So they stood on the deck of their small, gently rocking ship, feeling the wind blow into their faces and tangle their hair, watching the sun sink below the horizon like it was the first time, seeing pinpricks of light appear in the darkened sky and create another world for them to escape to.

They have never felt so free.

.

.

.

* * *

**A/N:** It occurred to me that the prologue is really vague (intentional, but still) and isn't all that riveting, and I should've just put the first two, well, technically the first chapter up together with the prologue. The author's note on the previous chapter is actually a bit outdated; as you can see, it did _not_ take a week to write this chapter because here it is! But holy crap, this chapter just wouldn't end.

To those who already reviewed the prologue, thank you for leaving your thoughts, and I really appreciated it. To anyone who simply read the prologue, I swear it gets more interesting. A chapter probably won't ever be up so fast again though, because I already had most of this finished. But again, thanks for reading so far.

By the way, is anyone interested in beta-reading this? I don't plan for this to be very long (can't imagine it going past ten chapters). I'm not really begging for a beta-reader since I'm generally fairly confident about my writing (and oh gosh I hope I don't sound super pretentious), but I think it's good to have a second opinion.


	3. Both Sides Now

**Chapter Two – Both Sides Now**

* * *

Erza jolted awake with a gasp, her hands flying up to her face at the sharp pain in her eye – eyes? Pain what pain-

_Lying on a patch of grass_-

But the ship was made of wood.

_Burning embers nearby-_

Everyone knew you couldn't light fires on ships.

_Surrounded by trees-_

They were in the middle of the _ocean_.

She rolled around the unfamiliar area and scrambled up, feeling heavy cloth impede her movement and why was she wearing so much they didn't have fabric for new clothes-

"Erza. Erza!" A chorus of voices she assessed quickly – one female (_Milliana?_)_,_ two male (_the pitches were_ _too low, much too low, and there were too few_), one unfamiliar (_why was it so squeaky_). Shadowy figures from all directions _but there weren't supposed to be guards on the ship_ and hands reaching towards her shoulder her arms her back-

"ERZA!" Her name, shouted, no, _roared_, and suddenly the clearing _it was a clearing wasn't it but you can't have clearings on boats_ lit up as bright as the sun and faded just as quickly as it appeared, leaving only crackling orange and red and yellow and _why was there a fire on a boat._ She backed away from the inferno, almost tripping over her own feet, covering her nose and mouth with her hand from the smoke.

There was enough light to make out colors now: ruffled pink hair in her face, crumpled black hair just behind, loose blond hair at her side and these colors were all wrong wrong _wrong_

_people_

A flash of blue and her lips automatically formed the "Je-" without sound, but her voice died out in the next moment when a slight weight landed on her head, mussing up the long strands of scarlet in front _and since when did she have long hair?_

She was thinking of the right names for the wrong people and who were _these_ people?

"_Erza._" Her name, again, more quietly this time and full of purpose, and the faces finally swam into focus.

"Natsu," she said immediately for some reason, to the pink-haired boy. The word felt foreign on her tongue, but the boy brightened with recognition.

"Gray." She turned to the black-haired one next, who was shirtless for some incomprehensible reason. Gray? Like the color? Nothing about him seemed particularly gray.

"Lucy." This one she at least recognized as a name, a girl's name at that, and could only belong to the blonde standing between the two boys. It felt regal and ordinary at the same time and made Erza suddenly ashamed to be in such a state in front of such cleanliness, only to realize that she was wearing perfectly fine clothes. Luxurious, even.

The weight on her head she had almost forgotten about suddenly tightened. "Happy," slipped out, although Erza couldn't see anything in particular to be happy about.

And suddenly Erza knew that these were the _right_ people and she was thinking of the _wrong_ names for them, and she was terribly confused.

Two eyes, long hair, flutters of tightly controlled magic at her fingertips, wearable clothes, _her_ team, all these added up to make not Erza Scarlet, the slave-girl who was once in a tower, but Erza Scarlet, of Fairy Tail.

Erza blinked once, twice, and exhaled.

Oh.

_Oh._

* * *

"I'm fine," she was saying insistently over and over again in an attempt to ward off the alarmed questions from Gray, Lucy, and Happy.

Natsu just looked puzzled.

"It's fine, it was nothing, I'm sorry to have woken you up," Erza said curtly, folding her hands in her lap. She really couldn't deal with this right now.

Gray scoffed and crossed his arms over his bare chest. "It sure didn't look like nothing when you were thrashing around like that. C'mon, tell us what's up already."

"Did that guy we caught hit you somewhere?" Lucy asked worriedly, hovering over Erza's shoulder as if anxious to check for hidden wounds. "We already handed him off to the authorities, but if something happened while we were fighting him…"

"No, nothing's wrong." And it was true. The mission had been ridiculously easy, even by their standards, and they had only been forced to camp out in the forest because night had fallen before they could reach the train station, much to Natsu's joy.

Natsu stared at Erza in an uncharacteristically critical way before he yawned suddenly, ruining the effect. "Eh, if it's nothing, just leave her alone," he said over his shoulder to Gray and Lucy, rubbing his eyes. "Right?" He turned back to Erza, eyes belying a piercing look that didn't quite match up with his seemingly sleepy demeanor.

Erza found herself nodding along. "It really is nothing," she reassured them, closing her eyes briefly. "Just a nightmare."

She could sense a pitying sort of understanding suddenly shoot through them. All of them had skeletons in their closets that rattled louder than usual sometimes, and none of them were any strangers to nightmares.

"If you're sure…" Lucy trailed off, casting one more glance at the scarlet-haired woman before crawling back into her sleeping bag. "Well, goodnight then," was the last thing they heard before Lucy's head vanished under the cover, leaving only a few strands of golden hair fanned out through the opening.

Natsu fell onto his bedroll, not even bothering to cover up with a blanket before immediately starting to snore. Happy flew back over to his partner, landing on Natsu's stomach. His large eyes blinked worriedly at Erza once before they closed and he curled up like the cat he was, white-tipped tail tucked over his nose.

Gray was not as quick as the others to go back to sleep. He knelt down close to the fire that Natsu had lit again in his panic to extinguish it with a crackle of ice, causing steam to hiss loudly and waft around the clearing. "You sure you're okay?" he asked quietly, not looking at Erza. It was hard to make out his expression in the sudden darkness, and Erza sighed.

"Yes, I'm sure. It was just a nightmare," she said, again. She turned her back on Gray and walked back to the nearby tree she had set blankets under, sitting down.

"…Well, okay then," Erza heard Gray mutter behind her, somewhat awkwardly. "Night."

"Goodnight."

A brief rustle as she heard Gray presumably lie down, and the clearing was silent again.

She was wide awake now though, and had no intention of going back to sleep. Instead she tucked her knees under her arms, sitting upright and watching as a crescent moon lazily drifted up into the overhead night sky, shimmering dimly.

_Just a nightmare_, she repeated internally. Allowing herself just one moment of weakness, Erza put her head over her arms, closed her eyes, and breathed out in a long sigh.

Yes, that was right. She needed to remember. A life like that, a life where Jellal had never fallen to Ultear's manipulations, had never killed Simon, had never lost his memories, a life where she had never joined Fairy Tail, had never met her precious team, and had never found and lost Jellal over and over again, _that_ was the nightmare.

She had thought she was long past the point where she wanted to see such childish dreams. She shouldn't _want_ to see things like that. And hadn't she already reached an answer with Jellal, now? A resolution?

This was the world she had to live in now, a world with _this_ present, and it was good enough for her already.

It had to be.

.

.

.

* * *

"…Did you even go back to sleep last night?"

Gray frowned at his friend while kicking dirt over the remains of their fire. It wasn't like Erza to be so shaken by what she called "just a nightmare", if the slight shadows under her eyes indicated anything.

Erza waved an armored hand dismissively, picking up the handle of her ridiculously enormous luggage cart. "It's nothing for you to be worried about, Gray."

From a certain point of view, Gray could relate. Before Galuna Island, he'd had no shortage of nightmares about Deliora, Ul, Lyon, and everything about his parents and hometown, but he'd rather take a punch from Natsu than admit that to anyone else. Gray supposed it was just sheer luck that none of them had ever happened on overnight missions.

After Galuna Island, it was… better. Not completely gone, because there were some things that even time couldn't heal, and coming to terms with a longstanding trauma wasn't quite that easy. He'd thought it was sort of the same for Erza after the Tower incident, although he wouldn't deny that he was worried about a relapse to her old ways after the Oracion Seis mission. But meeting up with Jellal again had seemed to make her happier, so what was up?

"Gray, what are you staring off like that for? We're leaving." Lucy's voice cut sharply into his mind, sending his train of thought crashing horribly into a ravine. He rubbed the back of his neck and slung his bag over his shoulder, walking quickly to catch up to everyone else.

Was he simply over-thinking this? Gray had every right to be concerned for a friend, didn't he?

Maybe it was just a one-time thing, but a quiet voice at the back of his mind doubted it for some reason.

* * *

Jellal opened his eyes, blinking slowly up at a pale blue sky. He felt disoriented, like the way people felt after waking up from a long dream.

_Had_ he been dreaming? Jellal shut his eyelids and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to remember. But any vestiges of the dream only appeared as blurred shapes and distorted voices behind his eyelids, and soon enough even those slipped away.

He felt strangely happy for some reason though. Maybe it had been a good dream. He sat up, pulling off his longcoat that he'd used as a blanket.

"Morning," Meredy called quietly from nearby, sitting on a rock and fixing her pink hair into a wavy ponytail. With her elbow, she pointed to an unmoving lump off to the side. "I woke Ul up yesterday. Your turn."

With a small lurch of horror, Jellal stepped lightly over to the older woman. Ultear was not a morning person, and she was always _irritated_ when disturbed from her sleep, to put it very lightly. He nudged Ultear's back with his foot, jumping back when she moved. "_What?_" she snapped, turning over and allowing one narrowed eye to glare at Jellal.

He pushed down the urge to shudder. "It's morning. We should be moving on."

"Go to hell." With that, Ultear buried her head under her blankets again. Jellal sighed and turned back to Meredy.

"How do you do it?"

Meredy shrugged. "Practice. But actually, I think we've got time to eat first."

"Then why did you tell me to wake her up now?"

"So _you_ can practice." Meredy's eyes twinkled, and she produced a cold sandwich from out of nowhere before Jellal could hit his head against a tree. "Here you go! You can try again later anyway."

He took it with some exasperation, shaking his head, and bit into the crust.

"What's got you so cheerful this early?" The girl – not really a girl anymore, but even after six years, Jellal still couldn't help but think of her as such – chewed her own sandwich, tilting her head inquisitively to the side.

"What?"

"Usually you're all gloomy in the morning until we go find some dark guild to take out, at which point you turn slightly psychotic." Despite knowing it was just a joke, Jellal winced. "But you're smiling."

Jellal paused in the consumption of his sandwich and raised a hand to touch the corner of his mouth. "I am?"

"I'd tell you to look in a mirror, but we don't have one and I don't think you want to try and take Ul's."

"Definitely not." He took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I think I was dreaming about something, but I don't remember what. And I think it was a good dream."

"Good for you then. Were you dreaming about getting it on with Erza?"

Jellal choked. "_What?_"

Meredy thumped his back as he coughed, not bothering to hide her amusement. "Come on, everyone already knows you want each other. We're a little close to Magnolia, so do you want to stop by and see her?"

"I don't- It's not-" Jellal spluttered at the sensation of one of his lungs trying to hack itself up. It was a very painful feeling. "It most certainly wasn't anything like that!" he finally said, his voice hoarse and face burning furiously. "And didn't I say we couldn't risk going back into Magnolia for a while, especially after the fiasco at the Grand Magic Games?"

"Sure, sure," the pink-haired girl sang, swallowing the last of her sandwich and standing up. "Just saying, you know."

"I would never-"

"But you _want_ to. At the very least, you want to say hi, right?"

Jellal couldn't deny that. He did miss Erza, but it was simply a matter of the different paths they took now. And he wasn't about to risk their tentative… whatever it was they had at the moment, with anything further. Or endanger her and Fairy Tail by getting careless with the authorities.

"Well, just think about it and let us know." Meredy called as she strode over to Ultear and leaned down to shake the other woman's shoulder, stepping back nimbly as an arm lashed out. "Come on, Jellal is going to eat your sandwich if you don't get up."

"He wouldn't dare," Ultear said crisply, finally sitting up. Her long, dark hair was flipped over to one side.

Jellal nodded in reluctant agreement. "I really wouldn't." Now that Meredy wasn't pressuring him with her ludicrous ideas of his dream, the embarrassment had faded. His good mood persisted though, and he found it a welcome change from his usual dark thoughts. "Angsty", Ultear would call it. She just didn't understand. It was absolutely _not_ brooding.

He looked up to the sky. The morning sun had peeked over the tops of the trees, turning the sky a more vibrant shade of blue. Jellal blinked and for a moment, found his feet planted unsteadily on a rocking wooden floor and was watching a brilliant sunset in mesmerizing streaks of purple, orange, yellow and scarlet. He blinked again and he was back in the forest.

What was that?

Jellal's vision went momentarily dark as something gently slammed into his face. He caught it on reflex and found himself holding his cape. Ultear was tossing their scattered belongings in three different piles now, motioning him and Meredy to pick up what was theirs, and already fully dressed. How had she done that so fast?

Feeling the urge to do something productive as long as his good mood lasted, Jellal blurted out suddenly, "I'll do the cooking for the rest of the day."

Ultear paused in her packing and looked at him as if he had grown two heads. "You hate cooking."

Jellal shrugged. "Not today, I suppose."

Behind Ultear, Meredy raised her eyebrows suggestively, a small smirk gracing her face. "It must've been a _really_ good dream. Are you sure you weren't-"

"And that's enough out of you."

* * *

With every step she took, Erza felt her unease at the previous night's events bleeding away. The forest was a peaceful and still place, or it _would_ be if it didn't happen to have Natsu and Gray in close proximity to each other. But that was the oddly relaxing aspect of it, listening to their bickering while Lucy tried to be damage control.

She was walking at the back of their 'line', to put it loosely, since it was inconvenient for everyone else if they were behind her luggage cart and had to talk to her for any reason. But all in all, Erza couldn't imagine anything better at the moment than simply _being_ with her friends like this. It was even better than strawberry cake.

In front of Erza, Lucy slowed down to walk alongside her. "Those two," she complained in an exasperated tone, rubbing her forehead. "They just don't know when to quit."

"In any other case, that would be a good thing. But they do take it a little too far with regards to each other sometimes," Erza agreed, brushing her bangs out of her right eye.

"Sometimes? Try all the time," Lucy sighed. But a fond smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "Still, I don't know what we'd do without them." The celestial spirit mage turned to Erza then, scanning her face. "If you don't mind me asking again, are you really okay?"

"Are you and Gray taking turns to ask me this?" Erza raised an eyebrow. "I really am. I'm sorry for startling you last night. It won't happen again."

"No, that's not the point." Lucy rubbed her head again, biting her lip as if trying to figure out how to phrase her words. "I mean, it was a little scary to see you tossing and turning like that, but right after it was like… it was almost like you didn't recognize us," she said softly.

"I was just a little confused after waking up," the armored mage replied sharply, her expression tightening. She wasn't about to get into how she had thought they were complete strangers at first. She couldn't do that to them.

"Do you mind if I ask what your dream was about?" Lucy's brown eyes were hard, stubbornly latching onto the topic.

Erza hesitated. "I-"

"HEY!" Natsu's exuberant voice carried to the back and the two women jerked their heads up at his cry. Behind him, Gray had his hand pressed to his face, having apparently walked into Natsu's back.

"Don't just stop suddenly like that, squinty-eyes!" he snapped irritably.

"Shut up, droopy-eyes!" Natsu retorted, shoving Gray lightly. Before Gray could retaliate, Natsu's eyes flicked to Erza. "I smelled something familiar," he said brightly. "I'm gonna go check it out." And with that, he ran off ahead, Happy flying right behind him.

"Idiot!" Gray groaned, looking back to Lucy and Erza. "I guess there's no stopping him now." He took off as well.

"What?" Lucy looked stunned at how things had progressed so quickly. "W-wait, what just happened?"

"With more than half our team gone, I suppose we have no choice." Erza sighed. "Let's go, Lucy."

"I still don't know what's going on!"

* * *

"Natsu, what did you smell?" Happy glanced quizzically at his partner, easily keeping pace with the Dragon Slayer. In the air, of course.

"I dunno." Natsu scrunched his face up, trying to remember. "I've definitely smelled it before though. It's kinda girly. And there's two other smells with it that smell familiar too, so we might as well go check it out."

The scent trail veered off to the right. Natsu skidded to a halt, sniffing once to make sure, and bounded off the path into the thick stand of trees. Crashing into bushes and breaking branches all the while, Natsu eventually burst into a small clearing. The scent was stronger than ever here. He glanced up and saw a girl with pink hair, a little older than him, standing some feet away. She seemed surprised.

"Aha!" Natsu pointed a finger dramatically at the girl. "You! You're…"

He trailed off, scratching his head. "…Who're you again?"

"Natsu!" Leaves rustled behind him and Gray, who was a slowpoke, appeared, looking annoying as always. He stopped short at the sight of the girl, staring. "You're-"

"Gray?" The pink-haired girl interrupted, looking even more surprised now if that was possible. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that," Gray shot back. "We're on our way back from a mission. What're you doing here, Meredy?"

Oh, that was it! Natsu remembered now. The girl had been there when they met the lady who was actually a guy and Jellal at the beach and gotten the power-ups. "Aha!" he shouted again. "I knew it!"

"Natsu! Gray!" Lucy's voice called out and he turned to see the remainder of their team. Erza had apparently left her luggage back on the path, probably so it wouldn't crush half the forest.

"Oh wow, all of you are here," The pink-haired girl exclaimed, unperturbed by the expressions of shock on Lucy and Erza's faces. "What a coincidence."

.

.

.

Erza's eyes widened. "If you're here," she said slowly. "Then…"

"It's nice to see you guys again!" Meredy continued as if she hadn't heard, waving cheerfully. "Ul went scouting." Out of the corner of her eye, Erza saw Gray flinch. "And we stuck Jellal with cooking duty today. Actually, he _wanted_ to do it for some reason. It's weird, because normally he hates cooking."

At the mention of Jellal's name, Erza felt her heart rate speed up.

"Wait, wait," Lucy waved her hands around frantically. "Are we just accepting that you guys, Crime Sorcière, are here right now? What about your quest to destroy dark guilds or whatever?"

"Um…" Meredy put a finger to her chin. "I don't see why not. We get around. And one of the dark guilds we were after recently happened to be close to Magnolia." She gestured for them to wait and spun around. "I'll go find Ul and tell her to come say hi. Jellal's over there if you want to go see him," Meredy added with a wink, pointing over her shoulder into a small copse of trees, almost out of view. There was a tell-tale trail of smoke rising into the air. "Be right back." And with that, she shot off in the opposite direction.

Everyone's eyes were on her, Erza vaguely realized. But she couldn't take her own eyes off the direction Meredy had pointed.

"D'you want to go see him?" Natsu had already sat down cross-legged on the grass, apparently glad at the chance for a break. But he was scanning Erza in the same uncharacteristically critical way he had done the night before.

Did she want to see Jellal?

The answer was obvious.

"Everyone, stay here," Erza said distractedly in response, striding away. It was a redundant order, she realized belatedly. They couldn't very well continue on back to Magnolia without her, and the rest of them were already sitting down anyway. A part of her wondered why she wasn't more worried about leaving her team alone with the two women of Crime Sorcière and the potential awkwardness, although Erza hastily reasoned that they would end up finding something to talk about. Hopefully.

But at the moment, most of her reason was driven away by _this_ irrational urge.

She… really did want to see him.

* * *

As she pushed a low-hanging branch out of the way, Erza's mind raced with possibilities. What should she say? What should she do? But all that came up was a blank, and she couldn't even imagine how she would face him. This wasn't a battle, Erza reminded herself. She didn't have to plan out every detail. All she had to do was let the conversation flow out naturally.

But 'naturally' wasn't a word she would use to describe this situation. Nothing really did come naturally to either of them.

_It'll just be a friendly conversation. Nothing more or less. That's all. It's silly to expect it to be anything else._

Much too soon, Erza could see a figure through the trees. A _dim_ patch of blue in the _dark_ shade of the trees, moving around. She closed her eyes, trying to not let the nightmare – dream – _nightmare_ override into reality. That had nothing to do with this. Taking a deep breath, Erza took a step forward.

And then another.

And another.

And another.

And stopped in her tracks.

It was Jellal. _Of course it was_, she scolded herself mentally. _Who else would it be?_ From what Erza could make out, the heavy-looking longcoat she was accustomed to seeing him in was instead hanging off a nearby rock. His back, that even now seemed just as broad and big as it had then, was to her.

He turned, and Erza felt her mouth open in slight shock. He was wearing what appeared to be a pink apron. _Pink_. With _hearts _outlined on it. Where had that even come from? To make the scene even more bizarre, Jellal was holding a ladle in one hand and stirring a pot of questionable content.

What.

Erza flinched as she stepped onto a branch, hearing it crack under her foot. Jellal looked up in alarm, pupils contracting and jaw dropping open. It was strangely comical.

"E-Erza?" His voice seemed to reach an octave higher in his half question, half exclamation. Jellal's face flooded red and he tore the apron off, throwing it to the ground and kicking it frantically out of sight. "What are you- I-I mean, I didn't expect to see you here," he stammered, running a hand nervously through his blue hair.

She couldn't help but smirk slightly. It was just too surreal. "Being domestic, are we?"

His pale face flushed deeper, if that was possible. "No, I- They- You know, Ultear and Meredy, they made me do it-"

"Oh? Meredy said otherwise. I never took you for that type of person."

Jellal's _broad, always broad_ shoulders slumped. "I am going to have… words with that girl. Later." The blue-haired man set the ladle down, stomped on the discarded pink fabric at his feet once more, and made his way over slowly to stand in front of her.

They couldn't have been more than a foot apart, but to Erza, the distance between them felt like a hundred times more.

"It's good to see you again," she said, letting a small smile form on her face. And she meant it. Erza hadn't realized how much she had missed Jellal until now.

"Of course," he replied warmly. "This is quite the coincidence though. What brings you here?"

"We're just on our way back to Magnolia after a mission, that's all. Natsu happened to smell 'something familiar', in his words, and it turned out to be Meredy. She pointed me in your direction."

For some reason, a faint dusting of red seemed to be creeping up Jellal's neck. It wasn't obvious, thanks to the high-collared shirt he was wearing, but Erza noticed it nevertheless. "I suppose she already told you what we were doing in this area then," he said evenly, averting his eyes from hers. "How have you been?"

She debated telling him about her strange dream, about how real it had seemed, about whether it meant something or not, but decided against it. She was simply overreacting, and over-thinking it. She couldn't burden him with a reminder of how it might have been if he just hadn't listened…

No, it wasn't Jellal's fault. Erza couldn't blame him for anything.

"Well enough." There wasn't much else to say. In the months following the tournament, she and everyone at Fairy Tail had tried to return to normalcy the best they could, after everything. Saving up to buy the old guild hall back, going on their lower-paying missions, and simply living. "Nothing notable has really happened."

"That's alright." She didn't even notice when Jellal grasped her forearm gently, leading her over to the pile of rocks so they could sit down. "I'd still like to know."

"It's not that important." That was a lie. Every moment with her guild, with her friends, was important to her. But she wasn't going to torture Jellal with stories of this life of hers, a life that must seem perfect compared to his. How could she dangle a life of light in front of him, knowing he would never be allowed to grab it?

"It's about you. Of course it is." Erza jerked her head up at his response. Jellal looked at her steadily, eyes soft. Why was her heart pounding? "Tell me, Erza. Please."

She stared back at him, the realization slowly dawning in her mind. It wasn't torture to Jellal at all. He was happy, _glad_ to hear about all the stupid, fun things she did with her friends, the battles they fought on missions, simply because she was there to relay those events to him. It was proof of his labors in destroying the dark guilds that Erza was able to do all those things in the first place. And for Jellal, that was enough. It had always been enough.

A bubble of happiness from somewhere deep within her popped, and Erza laughed, moving to sit next to Jellal instead of across from him. The rock wasn't very wide, forcing her to press up against his side, to feel his warmth transferring to her and hers transferring to his. "Alright," Erza began.

And she told him.

* * *

Later, much later, they emerged from the clearing together. Gray and Lucy regarded Jellal somewhat warily, but there was no real tension. They had met at the beach back then, and Jellal had been on the Fairy Tail B Team and proven himself trustworthy.

"We've dawdled long enough. Let's go back to the guild," Erza said to her team, nodding at Ultear in greeting. It would be a lie to say that she didn't resent the older woman at all, for everything. But after all the help they had given, and the genuine remorse that Erza knew was there, there was no reason to exact vengeance.

"You're leaving already?" Meredy looked disappointed.

"We'd only put you in danger if we stayed any longer."

"Funny," Ultear murmured smoothly, "that's what we should be saying to you."

"It really was nice to see you guys again though." Meredy got to her feet, brushing dirt from her knees. "Tell Juvia I said hello."

The rest of them exchanged their goodbyes as well, Gray in particular promising to pass on Meredy's message to the water mage. Lucy, Gray, and Happy followed Natsu as he crashed back through the forest, audibly snapping branches again. Erza nodded at the three members of Crime Sorcière and set off on the trail Natsu had left in his wake.

"Erza- Wait."

She turned around. Jellal was striding towards her, and Meredy and Ultear were nowhere in sight. "What is it?"

"Here." He took her hand and placed something small, round, and blue in color on her palm, letting go almost reluctantly. "For you. Us, rather."

"And this is?"

"A communication lacrima. It can't be traced. I made sure of it." He held up another one that was identical in all but color, a deep scarlet. "I still don't recommend using it too often, just in case, but if there's anything… anything at all…"

Erza stared at the dark blue orb in her hands, closed her fingers around it slowly, and smiled back at him. "Of course."

"Well. Then." Jellal stumbled over his words awkwardly, reaching up as if to shake her hand. "Goodbye for now, Erza."

Ignoring his proffered hand, Erza stepped closer to him instead and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to express all the things she couldn't in words. She felt Jellal stiffen at first, before relaxing minutely and gingerly squeezing her shoulders and back. "Goodbye, Jellal," she said softly into his ear, releasing her embrace and stepping away.

She looked back only once, and saw Jellal wave. Erza waved back, and walked into the shadows of the forest to meet up with her friends.

* * *

It wasn't until after they had returned to Magnolia, after they had given the mission report, after they had the obligatory party to celebrate a successful return, after it had finally all wound down and she had retired to her dorm in Fairy Hills, that Erza looked at the communication lacrima properly.

It was smaller than most others that were manufactured. Small enough for her enclose it with both hands and it wouldn't be seen. But what struck her most was the _color_. It reminded Erza irresistibly of his hair, and she wondered if he'd chosen it on purpose, the same way she'd wondered when she had seen him holding its scarlet counterpart like it was the most important thing in the world. The round lacrima shimmered dimly in the moonlight dripping through her window.

Erza placed it on the small table next to her bed and climbed between the sheets, settling her head on the pillow. Turning so that she was lying on her side, Erza let her gaze settle on the lacrima, on its strangely hypnotic shine, until she felt her eyelids drooping.

She closed her eyes, and dreamed of a tiny, insignificant boat tossed about in a violent, raging storm.

.

.

.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to those who reviewed since I posted the last chapter. It really does mean a lot to me.

So here we are at the second chapter, and this is what I meant by a "Canon AU". Was anyone surprised? I'm kind of displeased at the ending (as well as various spots in the middle), since I couldn't figure out how I wanted to end it _except_ for the last line, so pardon all the contrived stuff that happened in here. If there are any issues with how you see Jellal and Erza's relationship in this chapter, don't be afraid to voice your opinion. In addition, I hope the part at the beginning when Erza wakes up wasn't too confusing to follow.

Sorry to say that updates are going to be even slower from now on, since I've joined Mrs. HopeEstheim's NEW Fairy Tail Writing Challenges. This is a bit of a late advertisement, but registrations are open until this Friday, August 17th. Join up! I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and there are a lot of well-known authors participating. But in the meantime, thanks for reading.

EDIT: Fixed a missing word. Sorry if anyone got double alerts or something.


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